JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District Regulatory Division, received a new Programmatic Biological Opinion (PBO), referred to as ‘JaxBO,’ from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to address consultation requirements for certain activities that may affect federally listed threatened and endangered species occurring throughout the State of Florida, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. JaxBo was issued Nov. 20.
JaxBO is the result of years of interagency coordination focusing on improving efficiencies with respect to consultation requirements pursuant to Section 7, Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973. It addresses ESA requirements for ten categories of regulated activities including, but not limited to shoreline stabilization, construction of docks and other pile supported structures, maintenance dredging, boat ramps, and water-management outfall structures, etc.
JaxBO streamlines consultation requirements by the ESA and covers all Federally protected species under NMFS purview throughout the State of Florida, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It addresses consultation on approximately 43,000 projects over the next five years and requires adherence to certain project design criteria (PDCs) for each activity, including those for all projects, as well as those specific to addressing the effects of noise, vessel strikes, entanglement and entrapment, and the direct and indirect effects on aquatic resources such as Johnson’s seagrass.
To view JaxBO, please visit the following website and select “HERE” under ‘Endangered Species/ "NEW" JAXBO NMFS District-Wide-Programmatic-Biological-Opinion’
http://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Source-Book/
Information on Federally protected species under NMS purview can be found at:
http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/protected_resources/index.html
The Corps is neither a proponent nor opponent of any proposed project. The Corps’ mission is to provide the regulated public with fair and reasonable decisions while providing protection of the Nation’s aquatic resources and navigation.
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